I take the square tea tins from Specialty Bottle (square so they stack tidily), slap chalkboard contact paper on the tin lids, and use chalk markers color-coded by general tea type (yellow is black teas, white is white teas, green is green teas, purple is oolong, and blue is anything that doesn’t have caffeine) to list company name, tea name, and brewing and serving directions. The chalk means I can switch out teas and relabel tins easily. Using chalk markers means the chalk stays on better, doesn’t smudge off accidentally.

I have these hideous huge cupboards that hang over my teeny tiny kitchen counter and they jut out so much and are so low I can’t use all the counter space beneath them for anything else (appliances are all too tall). The tins stacked about 3 or 4 high in 6 or 7 rows fill up all that heretofore wasted counter space. I really love it.

I’m still deciding what’s going to go in the last few tins (sorting out what’s going to be my go-to oolong and more herbal/decaf blends), so this isn’t what the set up actually looks like under the cupboard yet.

I absolutely love this idea, thanks so much for posting it. I’ve been looking for something to use to organize my tea and the square containers are perfect. Where did you find the chalkboard paper, I’m not sure I’ve seen it before? It looks a lot nicer than using a label maker like I do for my spices.

Now that I think about it I’m not so sure I should thank you. I’m going to go out and spend a fortune on making my tea collection look nice and that leaves me less money for buying new tea.

I got the chalkboard contact paper from Amazon, because I have Prime. I reckon you might also be able to find it at Hobby Lobby or maybe even Michael’s, someplace like that. I think a roll of way more contact paper than I’ll ever need was something like $8 including “free” shipping (I know it tends to just be factored into Prime prices automatically). A set of chalk markers is usually between $5-10.

I use a label maker thing for my spice tins too! I didn’t chalk those since I know I won’t be switching up what’s in what tin ever. But since I will for tea I figured this’d work better. So far it has.

And I totally know what you mean about how organizing one’s favorite thing to collect is a pain because it means less $$ for said favorite thing! This thread is actually what motivated me to finally do something—before this everything was just in bags inside tupperware all over the house!

Oh boy, I went and did it and ended up with 24 tins total 12 for my drawer and 12 for the shelf. I actually discovered I own a roll of chalkboard paper, it came in with a product test that I’m supposed to be doing this month. What a crazy random happenstance :)

I don’t think I’ll be able to use it though, I thought about it and my tins sit within reach of my toddler. I see that as a recipe for disaster so for now I’ll use my trusty label maker or cut the labels off the bags, otherwise I’m libel to end up with 24 tins of tea with labels I can’t read and lots of baby fingerprints everywhere.

Now I just need to figure out which 24 teas I reorder the most and go from there. Sweet, I’m finally getting organized.

cteresa, I totally hear that about collecting a mishmash of stuff—honestly, I think that’s probably a lot more charming and personalized, if more spatially challenging. (:

OMGsrsly, thanks! Yeah, it’s a pain because round tins are easy to find in every size and quality (and cuteness!), but stackability was super important to me to maximize that strange wasted counter space.

i know it’s not “classy” or elegant or whatever but i’ve found using repurposed spice jars (short and tall) for storing and serving milk and sugar ideal. when it’s time for tea i just grab my mini bottle of milk from the fridge, and it doesn’t drip or take up much space on the table where i serve and drink my tea.

my sister gave me these stacking espresso cups a zillion years ago, and they didn’t see much use at first (for coffee i prefer a big mug), but have wound up being perfect for tea taste tests because they’re identical in every way—size, shape, material, etc.—except labeled with different words, which helps me a) maintain similar settings for each tea to give them a fair comparison b) keep track of which tea is in which mug by matching the alphabet order (a tea name that comes before another tea name alphabetically goes in a cup whose phrase goes before another cup’s phrase). has been so, so great! serendipity! they’re usually put away in a cupboard ‘cause i don’t tea test every day.http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/197643_10101303558046163_576375109_n.jpg

Aw, thanks! I love it so much too; I smile every day when I look at it. And yeah, I think a while after she got them for me I saw them or something with the same pattern at least online, but I can’t for the life of me remember where.

I recently re-organized a built in book shelf area, it housed my Addictions Counselling text books & some items I received after my dad passed away. it now houses my tins, samples & small amounts of tea. I have a nice swivel chair that I think I will put in this area along with a little table so I can sit & enjoy my tea.
I’ve still got some counter space organizing to do. It never ends in my house, but my work hours are silly so by the time I get home at 8:30 I want to sleep, or on days I get home at 6:30 I just want to spend the last hour or two with my girls.

My husband and I like to joke that our apartment doesn’t only have a one-butt kitchen – it has only half a cheek! I have managed to set aside these two shelves to tea, but our stash is still a little sparse. Now that his tuition is in-state we will finally be able to build it back up, and I’m very excited about the prospect!

Everything in it’s place: Notice that there are five saucers but only three cups. Jake was helping me get something down last night and we had a bit of a run-in with gravity. Three of the cups survived, but the enamel on the other two chipped and they’ll need to be replaced. The poor guy was horrified, but I’m okay with it – they lasted five years, they’re inexpensive, and it gives me an excuse to order some fun things (including a trivet for the black teapot, which was a wedding present) from EnjoyingTea.com – oh darn!http://www.flickr.com/photos/lyssastitches/8750827582/in/set-72157633506340955

Right now it’s mostly medicinal, with just a couple Tao of Tea, some Zhena’s, and one Teavana. The only reason I stepped foot in the place was because I was home visiting Mom and she wanted to. She asked for some of the White Ayurvedic Chai and they just kept shoveling and shoveling. I was flabbergasted when the total came up, but Mom was okay with it, and sent me home with a nice souvenir. All the silver tins are recycled from previous Tao of Tea purchases, and the labels were just cut from some scrapbooking adhesive paper with decorative scissors.

Thank you! The green teapot is actually much less expensive than a Teavana pot, and it’s lasted five years! I got the first part of the set as a graduation present back in 2008. Since then I’ve added to the collection with extra cups and saucers – which are a must because the cups get so hot. The color of mine is a little darker, part because of age, and part because of just a little bit of beeswax. Originally it was too light, but the thinnest coat of beeswax darkened it right up. I don’t know if that was a bad thing to do, but it’s worked just fine for me!

I know I am bit late to the cupboard posting party but I finally got my reading room all not cluttered for picture taking. Ignore the post-its. I keep post-its on my teas so I can randomize what tea I am going to drink.